Ali Malik

The recent changes to taxation introduced in the budget have caused uproar among trading and business circles. Most of the uproar has been on the imposition of 0.6 percent withholding tax on banking transactions. Added to that is the imposition of eight percent revenue tax on service businesses. The government argues that these tax changes […]

The year was 1968. If memory serves me right, it is written that Colonel Shamsul Alam of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency unearthed a conspiracy to break up East Pakistan. The alleged perpetrators of the conspiracy were Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman and a number of other Bengali politicians and government officials. It was said that the […]

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supremo, Asif Ali Zardari’s speech has opened up Pandora’s Box. In a hard hitting speech, Mr Zardari warned the federal government and armed forces to stop meddling in the political space of Sindh government or be ready to face retaliation. Mr Zardari feels that by targeting political entities and nabbing government […]

On June 11 there was an advertisement in the newspapers asking people to donate generously to the Rescue 1122 service of the Punjab government. This advertisement is distasteful but more than that, it is cruel. It highlights the arrogance and ineptness of the rulers of the province of Punjab, from the political leadership to the […]

Bill Clinton would never have wondered how a regime striving to protect crony capitalist interests in Pakistan would create a stupid’s economy in its bid to buy more time to survive financially. The federal budget does nothing but highlight the government’s march to that dead end it has been heading to ever since day one. […]

In the world around us, the most heated debate on religion revolves around creationism versus evolution. Whichever side of the debate one may be on, one thing is certain: people on both sides agree there is some set of rules that makes life go round. And since life is a system, the debate can also extend […]

The Axact saga, more than the global obsession with fake diplomas/distinctions, is a reflection of the sorry state of affairs in Pakistani media. The Pakistani media has been accused of irresponsible behaviour. In the case of the electronic media, which is a more recent phenomenon, it was assumed that with time maturity would seep in. […]

‘AxactGate’ has captivated the imagination of educated Pakistanis for the last three days. The report by Declan Walsh, published in The New York Times, has raised credibility issues for an upcoming private media group. In its defence, the media group is blaming media rivals for maligning its name using their international connections. Further ‘glory’ to […]

I had to write about something else today but, as I began writing, internet newsfeeds started buzzing with the horrific attack on the Ismaili community in Karachi. That I call the attack horrific may sound too clichéd now for the demons we sowed in the past, particularly in the eventful 1980s, wreak havoc every passing […]

In recent days, one news story that has dominated the international media was the drowning of a boat of African immigrants in the Italian seas. The uproar at the human tragedy has brought to the fore one key issue that faces mankind: the issue of immigration and migration. This issue is as old as human […]